Rich media and video were forecast to take a prominent place among the key drivers behind this trend, doubling their share of online revenues.

Outlay on campaigns utilising behavioural targeting was also pegged to rise three times over during the same period.

Consumers in the country now dedicate approximately 80 minutes to the web per day, and 78% of netizens have conducted research online before purchasing products.

Based on interviews with advertisers and agencies, however, the report added more nuanced data than clickthroughs were essential if marketers are to keep up with shifting habits.

One such metric could be monitoring the duration of each ad exposure, previously found to vary greatly depending on the format used.

The level of interaction – like playing and watching branded video players – also requires precise tracking systems.

Assessing how long visitors browse specific sites, the number of pages viewed, and whether they spread information virally might also provide a rounded picture.

"We've gone from an environment where a presence on the web was limited to banners redirecting to a brand site to a more complex world where the best performers pull on more levers," said Sébastien Leroyer, manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Performance measurement must evolve to support this new landscape. Advertisers need the right indicators to justify increasing their digital budgets."